Former Rajasthan assembly speaker and BJP MLA from Shahpura (Bhilwara) launched scathing attack on union law minister and his own party member Arjun Ram Meghwal calling him the ‘Corrupt No.1'. He also sought the removal of union minister from Modi's cabinet.
“This Arjun Ram Meghwal is corrupt number one. There are cases of corruption against him. I will write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, demanding he should be removed from the Council of Ministers,” the Shahpura MLA said, while addressing a public meeting at a village in Bhilwara.
Arjun Ram Meghwal, on the other hand has said that he will take legal action against the 89 year old BJP MLA, who belongs to his own community.
“It calls for defamation case against him. Kailash Meghwal should look into himself before levelling allegations against anyone. 15 years ago from now, He had levelled corruption charges worth Rs 10,000 crore against Vasundhara Raje. His mind has stopped working with his growing age,” Arjun Ram Meghwal said.
Allegations of corruption
Kailash Meghwal said that there are cases of corruption against Arjun Ram Meghwa, which dates back when Meghwal, a bureaucrat turned politician was collector in Churu district.
“Arjun Ram Meghwal joined politics to save himself from corruption cases which are still going on. He has been involved in corruption ever since he was an officer. I am going to write a letter to PM Modi against the minister,” Kailash Meghwal said.
According to sources, two corruption cases against Meghwal were registered when he was the district collector of Churu — his last posting as a bureaucrat before he took a plunge into politics.
In the first case, filed in 2011, a complainant Hakam Ali alleged that as the then district collector, Meghwal allotted plots of land meant for war widows to his relatives. The other case relates to mining lease in which Jethmal Khatri, a complainant, filed complaint with the ACB against Meghwal for not complying with norms in allotting a mining lease in Randhisar Hill in 2007-08.
“The cases are very old and have no relevance as such. We don't know the exact status of these two cases,” said a senior BJP leader.
Why Kailash Meghwal attacked his own minister
Only few days back, Bikaner MP Arjun Ram Meghwal was appointed the convenor of the BJP's election manifesto committee for the Rajasthan assembly elections. It is said that Arjun Ram Meghwal is trying to field his own man Roshan Meghwanshi from the Shahpura constituency which Kailash Meghwal has been representing since 2013. Kailash Meghwal is a six times MLA and three times MP in his political career spanning 46 years of electoral politics.
Kailash Meghwal said that he attacked Arjun Ram Meghwal as he wanted to make voters aware how “Megwhal has been misleading voters and doing dirty politics”.
Kailash Meghwal praised CM Gehlot and assembly speaker C P Joshi
Meghwal said that chief minister Ashok Gehlot has done several developmental works for Shahpura. Even assembly speaker C P Joshi has benefitted Shahpura when he was MP from Bhilwara.
“The sweet water of Chambal in Bhilwara is gift of Joshi, who as the minister of road transport had done a lot in development of road network in Bhilwara,” Kailash Meghwal said.
The praises of Kailash Meghwal for Gehlot has been looked at in the backdrop of Gehlot appreciating Kailash Meghwal's gesture of refusing to be part of BJP's plan to topple Gehlot government. Gehlot had openly said that his government could be saved because of Vasundhara Raje and Kailash Meghwal, who didn't participate in that conspiracy.
However, Gehlot's love for Kailash Meghwal and Meghwal's praises for Gehlot has not gone well with the party, which may deny him the ticket. Also at the age of 89, he looks an unlikely candidate.
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